Gaza executions: Hamas condemned over 'inhuman punishment'

Human rights groups have condemned the execution by the Hamas government in Gaza of three prisoners at the weekend, and are demanding that the death sentence of a fourth be commuted.

The three men, identified only by their initials, were hanged on Saturday at a Hamas security base in Gaza City. The cases were unrelated: WJ, 27, had been convicted of treason by collaborating with Israel; MB, 49, had been convicted of murder; and MA, 20, had been convicted of abducting, raping and killing a child.

All three had exhausted the right to appeal, according to the interior ministry in Gaza. The victims' families refused to forgive the men or accept compensation in lieu of their executions, which were aimed at "protecting the safety of the public", the interior ministry said in a statement.

The execution of a fourth prisoner, Jamil Zakaria Juha, 29, who was sentenced to death by firing squad in December for complicity in murder, is expected imminently. The supreme military court in Gaza upheld Juha's sentence in February and he has no further appeals.